Besides this fall weather, being on a beach, snacking and days off........

COMMUNITY.

Being a part of, feeling involved in, and creating connections based on common positive interests. One that's intended to help motivate and inspire you.

I found the incredible Annie of Collective Passions via blogging (and fate), and I am somehow lucky enough to be involved in this super legitimate, #girlboss, Taylor Swift-esqe (but actually friends) girl tribe called the Style Collective.

Created by Annie, through her blog Collective Passions, it's been huge for making friends and connections via blogging. She runs this group, gets everyone excited and keeps everyone motivated. With what can be a cold lonely virtual blog world - she has created a place where people can feel welcome, and accepted.

While running this group she also has her blog, Collective Passions. Which is super legit. She's smart, knows what she wants, gets shit done and looks so good along the way.

Hey there! I am Annie, one half of Collective Passions where I blog with my sister Catherine about topics to help you get gorgeous, feel amazing, and be smart.

We have all been given gifts, talents and passions to fulfill in this life. Our vision is to create a community where we can all share our passions and inspire each other to live a fulfilling, purposeful and happy life.

The community that resulted from creating this blog is called #stylecollective and that is really where the vision is going down. It has been amazing to meet other driven, creative, passionate women and come together to inspire each other to be our best selves. We are taking this community to the next level and launching the site on Dec 1st!

Favorite Non-Fiction Book?

I am a total nerd and just LOVE True North by Bill George and Start with Why by Simon Sinek. I have this weird love and curiosity for leadership, self-development, and marketing. This post is actually inspired by a lot of the ideas in their books.

Wise words I would tell my 25 year old self?

You don’t need to have all the answers. You can have your opinions about a subject, but you MUST have an open mind and shift your focus to learning something new to add to your current knowledge set.

Evaluate other’s needs and wants through an open dialogue. If others are comfortable having difficult conversations with you, then you will have the power to shape your relationships AND how people treat you. The most powerful stimulus for leadership and change is the art of questioning, not having opinions or having all of the answers. Leaders act in the opposite manner – they embrace conflict, embody it, and engage everyone. Leaders are learners; asking questions and challenging others’ thoughts can be done in a respectful and proactive way.

Having passion and a sense of purpose is what differentiates leaders, rather than having all of the answers.

Finding Your Self-Leadership and True Calling:

My passion lies in wanting to be an authentic leader and true inspiration for others, but doing so requires three very important aspects: self-leadership, team leadership, and business leadership. This requires leadership focused on pursuing purpose with passion, practicing solid values, leading with heart, establishing enduring relationships, and demonstrating self-discipline.

1.Pursuing Purpose with Passion

“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday” – Abraham Lincoln

To be an effective leader, you need to be passionate and create alliances in order to illicit change. A smart leader creates a small number of relationships where there is complete honesty and complete trust so that when you’re having a toxic moment, one of those people can tell you the truth. These trusting relationships will be extremely valuable to your self-development so that you can be effective in your leadership. However, these relationships will only be valuable to your development if you are able to have an open mind, be honest with yourself, and change for the better. Someone once questioned Abraham Lincoln about changing his opinion on an issue and his response was that of course he changed his mind, he’d like to think that he is smarter now than he was a year ago.

2.Practicing Solid Values

Ethics is the heart of leadership. Live your values and people who can identify or support those values will follow you. Build your own personal brand as a leader and make your ethics known. Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic, believes that leadership principles are values translated into action. For example, a value such as “concern for others” might be translated into a leadership principle such as “create a work environment where people are respected for their contributions, provided job security, and allowed to fulfill their potential.” Your values and principles will help guide your leadership in the organization. Your relationships with others will grow over time through your shared values and common purpose (George 6).

3.Leading with Heart

“Leading with heart means having passion for your work, compassion for the people you serve, empathy for your teammates, and the courage to make tough calls.” – Bill George

As a leader you need to balance your extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. While it is great to have high motivation to achieve extrinsic recognition, such as recognition and status that comes with promotions and financial rewards, it is also equally as important to have balance in your life. Intrinsic motivations are derived from sense of purpose and meaning in one’s life. Examples include personal growth, helping develop other people, taking on social causes, and making a difference in the world. Use your leadership and passions to make a difference and find balance between your desires for external validation and the intrinsic motivations that provide fulfillment in your work. You will find that intrinsic motivations can be more fulfilling than extrinsic motivations (George 6). People will take notice of your passions inside and outside of work; this will elevate your relationships with others who, as a result, will be drawn into your orbit.

4.Establishing Enduring Relationships

“Leading does not mean managing” – James McGreggor Burns

Leadership is about mobilizing your resources to enable others to contribute to the vitality of the organization. It is vital that you find ways to work through others.Be a good listener in order to come up with collaborative solutions. Do not shun conflict, instead embrace it, embody it, and engage everyone in order to be effective and intend change. If your mind is closed off, then you cannot poke holes into situations and explore multiple scenarios in order to arrive at a better solution. Allowing people to be comfortable to discuss their thoughts and opinions openly will take collaboration and participation to a whole new level. Do not infantilize others, this will limit or diminish the growth and potential of a person. Instead, listen to all points of view, summarize what you’ve heard, and then come up with the final plan based on what you’ve heard. It’s not about being right or knowing everything, because that is a dictatorship. Conflict is the starting point for leadership because leaders are learners.

5.Demonstrating Self Discipline

Set high standards for yourself and for others. Accept full responsibility for outcomes and hold others accountable for their performance. Acknowledge when you fall short. When people err, don’t destroy them. Instead, make sure they learn whatever lessons there are to be learned from their mistakes. (Entrepreneur Magazine March 2014). Solid teamwork and accountability are key.

Conclusion

“Great leaders want to provide people opportunity, education, discipline when necessary, build their self confidence, give them the opportunity to try and fail all so they can achieve more than we could ever imagine for ourselves.” – Simon Sink, TED Talks

Do not sacrifice others to be self-fulfilling, instead sacrifice yourself to save others. Build your internal environment to fight against external dangers instead of fighting against each other. Form a cohesive team and work together to achieve your goals. Leadership is a choice and certainly not a rank. Authority is not leadership. Choose to look out for the person to the left and right – this is what a leader is. If we sacrifice for people, people will sacrifice to ensure the goals of the leader come to life. Followers will sacrifice for great leaders because they feel safe and that the leader would have done it for them (Simon Sink, Ted Talks).